Red Panda Baby at Fota Wildlife Park is named Rua

Rua, the Fota Wildlife Parks's baby Red Panda - Photo by Neil Danton. www.neildanton.eu

After 542 suggestions, 264 likes & 4 retweets the baby red panda at Fota Wildlife Park has been named Rua which means red in Gaeilge/Irish.

Rua who was born on the 8th of July has been somewhat of a superstar having appeared on TV, Radio, Print and Online in the last two weeks, even Irish betting company PaddyPower were taking bets on what he would be called. However up until this morning he didn’t have a name, the reason for this was that there was an online competition which had 541 suggestions of which 4 were shortlisted for a vote on the Fota Wildlife Park Facebook page.

The name rua meaning red in Irish beat off competition from Cimba, Bob & Bamboo on the social media site with 264 likes. Stephen Ryan head of Marketing with the park was amazed at the response and the amount who liked the name Rua he added “81 people alone suggested the name through our online competition and the lucky winners pulled from the hat were Thomas & Alice Wright from Dalkey in Co Dublin who will get a VIP behind the scenes tour, membership and exclusive goodie bag from the park as a result of winning the competition”.

As for Rua, well the good news is that he is thriving in his home at the incubation house at the and is delighted with all the attention that surrounds him at present. He can been seen every day between 10am & 6pm at the incubation house next to the giraffe slide at the park.

Rua who was born on the 8th of July is also looking forward to Novemberthe 13th which is the inaugural International Red Panda Day. The inaugural International Red Panda Day is taking place on Saturday November 13, 2010 and Fota Wildlife Park is holding a special event to help the Red Panda Network make a difference for red panda in the wild.

*         The Red Panda is quite long: 79-120 cm, or 31 to 47 in (including the tail length of 30 to 60 cm/12 to 24 in). Males weigh 4.5 to 6.2 kg (10 to 14 lb); females 3 to 4.5 kg (6 to 10 lb).

*         Red Pandas are crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk) and live in the slopes of the south of the Himalayas and the mountainous forests southwest of China, at altitudes of up to 4,800 meters, and generally do not venture below 1,800 meters.

*         It has a dense fur coat which helps it to survive the cold winter months of its high altitude habitat. Red Pandas are very skilful and acrobatic animals that live predominantly in trees.

*         They live in territories, frequently alone, and only rarely live in pairs or in groups of families. After a gestation period of 112 to 158 days the female gives birth to one to four blind cubs weighing 110-130 g.

*         It’s thought that fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remain in their native home range. Their population continues to decline due to habitat fragmentation.

*         International Red Panda Day will focus on introducing children to red pandas and will be broadcast live online via a webcast that will reach our international supporters in over 20 countries. The focus of the day is a treasure hunt for children that will have them explore your zoo on their quest to become a Red Panda Ranger

*         The goal for International Red Panda Day is to raise a total of $30,000 of which $10,000 will support our Nepal awareness campaign and $20,000 will support our China awareness campaign.